Nick Taylor was on the train to Manchester from Edinburgh with his whole crew – wife, Andie, and son, Charlie, and newborn daughter, Harper, and all the bags that come with overseas family travel. His golf clubs were with his caddie, but the Taylor family still took up all the space in their particular train car. They, Taylor admits with a laugh, were that group.
A courtesy vehicle from the tournament got them from Manchester to Hoylake, where the crew rented a house for the week as Taylor makes his Open Championship debut at Royal Liverpool.
Taylor, whose RBC Canadian Open victory is still resonating amongst his peers as one of the most electric of the year, is eager to apply some quick learnings about links golf to the major he’s been most excited to debut at.
“It has a history that’s hard to grasp but it’s a tournament I’ve wanted to play a long time,” Taylor explains. “To be on the ground, the aura, the history of the tournament — it’s similar to [the Masters]. The fans and their golf knowledge, they just love golf here and they’re so excited for this tournament.
“There’s a lot of things about it that people have described over the years, and now to be able to experience it will be a lot of fun.”
Taylor — one of just two Canadians at Royal Liverpool this year, along with Corey Conners — finished tied for 19th at the Genesis Scottish Open last week but his links-golf resumé isn’t that long. He took a memorable week-long trip to Ireland with his whole University of Washington golf team and their supporters while in school, playing every day. Taylor played the Scottish Open last year, too, making the cut but finishing tied for 55th. That’s all there is, though. He says the opportunity to flex some creative muscles and play some shots he may not normally has him excited for the week ahead.
His short-game coach, Gareth Raflewski, is Irish-Canadian and came with Taylor last week for the Scottish. Raflewski will also be on site this week at The Open. Taylor’s work with Raflewski has been quite literally game-changing — he’s sixth on the PGA Tour in putting average this season, up from 136th in the same statistic a year ago.
“Last week was important to get your mindset right [for links golf], especially around the greens,” says Taylor. “Just to get shots around the greens, hitting long putts from off the green, getting a feel for that. It was a nice warm-up week to get ready. Sunday, the wind was insane, it’s just not something you do often.”
Taylor says for the Scottish Open finale, the 18th hole featured a carry of just 226 yards to cover some bunkers and one of just three birdies made on the day came from Thomas Detry, who had to hit driver-driver into the green.
“It was insane,” Taylor says of the windswept conditions that could again come into play at Royal Liverpool this week.
Royal Liverpool (also known simply as “Hoylake,” the town that houses the course) has a deep history with the game. Established just 30 years after Canada became a country, the course is set to host its 13th Open Championship. It will, however, be completely different than it was when it last hosted in 2014.
More than a dozen changes, mostly on the back nine, were made for this year by Martin Ebert, who is the lead consulting architect for seven of the 10 courses in the Open Championship rotation. Fairways have been tweaked, bunkers have been added or reoriented, and there are plenty of new challenges for the best in the world. Amongst the changes is the par-3 17th which has been totally reconstructed from a par 4. The course will now play to an overall par of 71, not 72.
“It’s a very strong test of golf out there,” says defending champion Cameron Smith.
Smith will look to become the first man to successfully defend his claret jug since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08. Smith made his jump to LIV last year not long after his Open Championship win, and has been in fine form so far this season on the rival circuit, winning the last event on that tour’s schedule in London on July 9.
Of the game’s top players, look for Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to be firmly in the mix over the four days of the championship. Scheffler, the world No. 1, is putting together an all-time great season — he’s got two wins and hasn’t finished outside the top 12 on the PGA Tour since last October.
McIlroy, meanwhile, captured the Scottish Open Sunday after an epic birdie-birdie finish on the final two holes. He comes to Royal Liverpool as the course’s defending champion, having won the claret jug in wire-to-wire fashion in 2014. McIlroy, who is the last male golfer to win a major after winning the week prior, is on a streak of six top-10s in a row on the PGA Tour, including a runner-up result at the U.S. Open.
Taylor noticed recognition from top guys like Scheffler and McIlroy immediately after his RBC Canadian Open victory. When something happens in sport you don’t see very often, Taylor says, there’s a lot of respect for that accomplishment.
Taylor has three PGA Tour victories now — only four Canadians in PGA Tour history have more. The obvious next step is to contend at — and win — a major. You can’t win without first getting in the field, though, and that’s what Taylor’s excited about already this week at his first Open Championship.
He will be paired with Adam Schenk and 2013 Open Championship winner Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds.
“Playing these tournaments more and more and playing better and hopefully getting in contention is the goal,” Taylor says. “Those guys that are top 10 in the world have been doing it for years — and that’s where I want to be.”
Conners, the only other Canadian in the field, is playing his fourth Open Championship. He finished tied for 28th a year ago.